April Wrap-up: I Did It!!!

I did it! I've posted every day in April and written a poem every day. I finished both challenges and I'm very proud of myself. I have a bad habit of sometimes starting things that I don't finish so I feel pretty good about this.

One of the things I wanted to do in April was to simplify my life. I've made a few changes but still need to work on this. Right now I have 392 feeds in my Google Reader. That's down from over 500 at the beginning of the month. These are all blogs and news feeds and while they are interesting it becomes overwhelming at times. Part of the problem is I want to keep up with them on a daily basis. Which is why I'm in front of the computer all day. I'm going to work on reducing the number further in May.

The other thing I'm trying to do is keep my computer off one day a week. I decided on Sunday and for the last three Sundays tried with varying degrees of success to keep the computer off. The first Sunday I left it off until 7:30 pm. The second I managed to leave it off all day but kept checking my iPhone for email and looking online a time or two. Last Sunday I gave in early and had it on most of the day. Wow, there are five Sundays in May! I'm going to leave it off entirely on each one. I'd like to say I'll leave my phone off but I'm not sure I can go that far yet. As I read what I just wrote it kind of sounds like the computer is in control and not me. I'm afraid that may be true. . .

I don't think I'm going to commit to posting every day in May. I'm going to plan to but I don't want the commitment hanging over my head right now. Maybe in June (notice how I go for the shorter months!).

I read 12 books and went to the library three times. Hmm, usually I go four times. Oh well I guess that's ok. I read a bunch of mysteries this month. One I especially enjoyed, The Stargazey by Martha Grimes. She writes a series about a Scotland Yard Inspector, Richard Jury. I love British mysteries and have picked up one of hers a time or two in the past but never read it. Fortunately I finally read one and I loved it! The Stargazey is the 15th in the series. I've requested the first one from the library and I'm going to start from the beginning and read them all.

The Literary Gardener – Walter Chandoha
The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien Book
The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Children of Hurin – J.R.R. Tolkien
Evidence – Jonathan Kellerman
Shooting Gallery – Hailey Lind
Deadly Advice – Roberta Isleib
Homicide in Hardcover – Kate Carlisle
Asking for Murder – Roberta Isleib
The Stargazey – Martha Grimes
Imagined London – Anna Quindlen
The Gutenberg Elegies – Sven Birkerts